Use Somebody
by piratesmiley
Summary: P/O, AU. "So, what are you, the Ghost of Christmas Past?"


A/N: A story, satisfying Zaedah's _request _(read: threat). Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fringe.

* * *

"So, what are you, the Ghost of Christmas Past?" The manner of these meetings was getting old.

This was the fourth time Olivia had been pulled in by the ever-elusive William Bell to the other dimension, to fractionally tilted universe number two. Each time, he took her somewhere that only left her more confused than before, but it seemed this specific trip only existed to torture her.

They looked so young. It was probably the happiness etched on their faces more than their actual age, but it was enough for Olivia to be caught off guard.

It was her - herself. It was some little Olivia, head in hand, leaning against the bar counter invitingly. That would not have been a problem with her older counterpart if it weren't for young Peter, smiling back. There was something about the look on each of their faces that screamed secrecy, intimacy. They were speaking to each other and laughing. There was something else too - Olivia knew the look, recognized it on her own face.

It was difficult to watch.

Olivia looked at Bell, who was watching stoically. She felt the gravity of _outside looking in_. She wanted desperately to go home and pretend she hadn't witnessed this.

"Come this way," Bell said, and she followed him into the alley next to the bar, just in time for her alternate and Peter to come down the street without noticing the two figures. They walked, hand in hand, seemingly inseparable.

"Roughly nine months from now, she will give birth to a beautiful baby girl."

Her eyes couldn't have grown wider if they tried.

"And him?" She asked hoarsely.

"Roughly nine months from now, he will be dead."

-

When she returned to her own reality, she felt the complications wash over her but she hardly registered the pain, the nausea, the dizziness. She was empty - all but one thought of _here it goes again_.

It seems that the Fates or whoever were hell-bent on leaving her unhappy and alone. It wasn't the least bit fair – it was agony. She didn't want to see that happen again. She didn't want to have that knowledge of the future and not do something about it. The inaction would kill all three of them.

So, for the next two weeks, she planned. Quietly, thoughtfully. The entire time, she couldn't look her own Peter in the eye. She steered clear of the lab; she addressed any and all questions to Astrid or Walter. She pretended he didn't exist, in order for her to safely and objectively save his existence somewhere else. It was for his own good.

She also avoided his eyes so he wouldn't see the pain there. Yes, it was torture. But necessary and precautionary, and in the end, she hoped, worth it.

-

The other-worldly pair was surprisingly cavalier about coming face-to-face with her, as if they did this all the time. And for all she knew, maybe they did. Still, it was her first encounter with the other kind, and she was a little nervous.

More than a little nervous.

She sat as calmly as possible and explained everything. Every detail from when it would happen and where to what she would the name the baby – knowledge she had gained from a quick, unbearable jump in the future before landing here. There was no doubt that she would feel _those_ repercussions double time when she returned. The ability to jump through time was new and shaky, and it hurt like hell. But it was worth it, for this cause.

The more she talked, the more somber and panicked the pair became. They had no reason to trust her, and yet, they couldn't help themselves. If this Olivia wanted to hurt them, she would have already, and so they had to trust her story.

In exchange for the warning, they offered Olivia information on ZFT. The two had been on the inside since childhood and knew it inside and out. But any bond they had to the organization was drowned out by their bond to each other; they were indebted to Olivia and gave her as much as they could.

After two hours of tears and fright and exchanging information, Olivia grabbed the fabric of reality and pulled herself home.

-

And still, even though she had made things right, she couldn't look Peter in the eye. She began to believe that she was wrong about the original reason for her avoidance; no, it wasn't for safety, it was because of awareness.

She was unfortunately thrust into the position of Eve. William Bell, so fittingly, was the snake that tempted her into eating the apple and gaining the knowledge that there exists on one side a happy couple and another two semi-friendly coworkers. On one side, intense understanding, inside and out; on the other, mysteries and dancing around connection.

She was desolate. She was lonely. She could use someone to have, to hold, to talk to. And Peter Bishop was more than willing.

-

When she finally broke down, drove to his house in the middle of the night, and roused him from slumber for story time, he only had one question.

"What did you name our baby?"

She could only smile. "Adryah."

"Why?"

"It means 'strength' in Arabic."

"And we met in Iraq." He was being very rational and calm, considering this whole situation. She loved that.

"No," she contradicted. "_They_ didn't. They've known each other since they were kids; they met during the Cortexiphan trials."

"So then why pick that name?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guessed it reminds her of you."

_Him, you mean_, the little voice in her head reminded her. She was blurring the lines dangerously.

He just smiled.

She thought then of the way she arrived here, rambling and hyper, asking seven times in rapid succession if it was okay for her to just show up like this, until finally he said, "It's fine; just talk," and pulled her inside the house. She thought of the way he's smiling right now. She saw hints and glimmers of what she caught between the young pair on the other side.

Hope.

"So they told you about ZFT?"

She nodded, coming back to reality a bit. "Enough to do some damage."

He smiled. "So let's take them down."

She smiled back. "Let's take them down."


End file.
